Conversations
by Lady Addiction
Summary: With Neon’s ability gone and billions of dollars spent on a fake item, the Nostrad family is on the brink of bankruptcy. What will Kurapika do?


_CONVERSATIONS  
By Lady Addiction_

DISCLAIMER: HunterxHunter is not mine.

WARNINGS: Alternate timeline, Spoilers for anime and OAVs, GEN

PAIRINGS: None

SUMMARY: With Neon's ability gone and billions of dollars spent on a fake item, the Nostrad family is on the brink of bankruptcy. What will Kurapika do?  
  
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Senritsu paused before lifting a hand to knock. She heard Kurapika's invitation clearly, unmuffled by the wooden barrier to her extremely sensitive ears. Opening the door, she and Bashou slipped inside.

Kurapika was standing by the closed balcony doors, sipping a cup of cider. He was casually dressed at this time of night, wearing only a pair of dun-colored pants and a light grey wool tunic.

"Please sit down," he gestured towards a round tea table at the corner of the room. There was a pot of steaming cider, extra cups, and a plateful of snacks. Senritsu and Bashou settled in, the latter eagerly swiping a couple of tea sandwiches and poured himself some cider. Kurapika moved to join them, sitting next to Senritsu and across Bashou.

"First, is it true that the Nostrad Family is now bankrupt?" Bashou asked pre-emptively. The bearded man was frowning at the smaller, blond Hunter.

"From what I understand and what I've been allowed to see in the records, not quite yet, but very close to the brink." Lifting a hand to forestall their next comments, Kurapika continued, "Wait. According to my research, the Nostrad Family's wealth, aside from Boss-sama's Nen ability, is mainly fed from their control over a few minor territories in Little Chicago. However, in that area, they are in constant competition with the Demetros Family, the Jannosis Clan, and the Franklin Family, which is why they haven't been able to expand their operations. Now, four years ago, Neon-sama in one of the big gatherings used her talent as a party trick and told the fortune of the one of the 10 Godfathers. From this point on, Nostrad-san began to use his daughter's talent as a cash cow." He paused and took a sip.

Bashou was drumming his fingers on the table, bored with the long-winded explanation. Senritsu gave him a disapproving glance and nodded at Kurapika encouragingly. The blond smiled back at her and disregarded Bashou. "Any reasonable person would use the money and try to invest it. Nostrad-san did so, but he is only moderately successful. To date, 75 of the Nostrad Family income comes from Neon-sama's talent."

"And now that talent is gone," Senritsu said quietly. Kurapika nodded. "Correct. In addition, Nostrad-san lost a suit against the Demetros Family and is now forced to pay several million Zenis. I estimate that since we started our bodyguard position, Neon-sama has spent several more million on clothes."

"I'm not surprised," Bashou muttered. "The chit went to the most expensive places in the city! The few price tags I've seen were in hundreds of thousands."

"Yes. Add to that the purchases of several items for Neon-sama's collection on credit, including the billion-dollar Kurata eyes, and it is no wonder that the Nostrad Family is now in poor financial condition," Kurapika ended.

"But the eyes were fake," protested Senritsu. "Surely the auction house should refund the money!"

Kurapika shook his head. "That's a mess right now. Ordinarily the auction house would refund the money. However, billions of dollars went around in that auction and all of them had gone straight into the Genei Ryodan's pockets. If the 10 Godfathers were still alive, the auction house would still be able to return the money because they would be funded by that body. But now, in the chaos, the auction house has sent statements to all the buyers that they would not be able to refund any monies from the auction."

"The Genei Ryodan, huh?" Bashou heaved a sigh and took a drink of cider. "All my years as a Treasure Hunter and I've heard numerous stories about them. I never thought they would be that good!"

"Yes. To pull off the greatest heist of the century, order the assassination of the greatest heads of the Mafia, and leave the Mafia community in total anarchy…" Senritsu took a sandwich and began to nibble at it.

Kurapika started. Ever since word had broken about the assassinations of the 10 Godfathers, he had suspected the Genei Ryodan, though there was no way to confirm. "Senritsu, who told you it was the Genei Ryodan that ordered the assassination?"

"Well, nobody." She smiled gently. "I made that guess based on the fact that they were the likeliest group. They were the only ones the 10 Godfathers were fighting against at the time of the assassination. There is a likelihood that it might have been another enemy, but my intuition says it is the Ryodan."

"Hmmm. I never thought the Ryodan likely to hire assassins to do their work, but I agree with you, Senritsu. I too feel that there is a connection between the Ryodan and the assassination."

Bashou rapped the table sharply. The other two looked at him. "You two are missing the point. What are we going to do now? I don't do charity work. What will Nostrad do now?"

"Nostrad-san hasn't said anything," Kurapika revealed, looking down at his chain-encased right hand. "But I would estimate that he would let us go in the next month."

"Boss-sama will still need bodyguards," Senritsu argued.

"Yes. But without her Nen and the income it generates, Nostrad-san would not be willing to spend millions of Zeni to employ three Professional Hunters. He would have to settle for the traditional Mafia guards," the blond refuted. "He will either let all of us go or retain one of us."

"If he does, he'll most likely keep you, Kurapika," Bashou replied. He smirked at the smaller man. "What are you going to do?"

The Kurata smiled coolly. "I'm going to refuse. My goal is to become a Blacklist Hunter, not a nursemaid."

"You said it!" The big man pushed himself to his feet and stretched. "Never thought I'd be signing up as a babysitter when I took on this job! Well, I'm off to bed. I'll see you two in the morning." He left quickly.

Kurapika poured himself and Senritsu more cider. "Kurapika, you are not going to try and hunt down the Ryodan anymore, are you?" she asked.

The blond hesitated before firmly shaking his head. "No. Without their leader, the Kumo will probably lay low. I will use that time to hunt down the locations of the rest of my clan's eyes and probably do more training. I'm still very poor at using Nen."

Senritsu smiled at him. "I'm glad. Forgive me for saying so, Kurapika, but revenge doesn't suit you."

Kurapika's mouth twisted downward. "You aren't the first to say so."

-FIN-


End file.
